September, 1909 
Small court (Hoffman) 
the art nouveau. This phase of art is cultivated in France 
and Italy, and to a less extent in England; but the Germans 
are the leaders, clearly and unmistakably, and they lead, on 
the whole, grandly and well. Those who were fortunate 
enough to see the German rooms at the International Ex- 
hibition at St. Louis, saw there a perfect revelation in mod- 
ern art workmanship, perhaps the most complete and most 
remarkable display of the kind that, up to then, had been 
shown in America. 
Meantime German art has not stood still. The art 
nouveau in Germany is no longer limited to interior decora- 
tion, but actual buildings, gigantic warehouses, vast churches, 
real dwelling-houses, structures of every type and kind have 
been designed and built in this new form of art. Much of 
this is good, some of it is positively splendid, and much of it 
is interesting in the highest sense. That there have been 
some failures may be frankly admitted, but the note of 
progress is definite and sure, and the triumphs of the new 
art are already secure in its infancy. 
And what is the art nouveau, it may justly be asked? I 
shrink from attempting a definition of something that is at 
once so pronounced and so vague, but certain well-defined 
characteristics are clearly manifest. It is, in the first place, 
Cemetery (Braiier) 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
351 
SS 
a a 
Entrance to country house (Hoffman) 
a departure from established tradition. It ignores what in 
art is known as the academic. It is both based and developed 
on construction, and is, in many senses, construction em- 
bellished, adorned and glorified with constructional decora- 
tion. It is not an enriched art, for it is often solemn and 
somber in every aspect. But its soberness, when relieved, is 
relieved in a new way. It is an art that throbs with the 
vitality and the individuality of the artist. And this is true 
whether it be a work of architecture or a piece of decoration; 
whether it be a mural decoration or a bit of sculpture. It is 
the expression of the artist’s own soul, of his mind and his 
imagination. It is his personal, individual creation. 
It necessarily follows that the art nouveau is not de- 
veloped out of the copy-books and that it is not manufactured 
“The dance,” relief by Franz Metzner 
by rule. A good deal of modern architecture, and of mod- 
ern American architecture, is concocted in this manner, and 
very safe and sound such architecture is. Moreover, it is 
much easier to copy than to invent, and the architect who 
can indicate the existing sources of his ideas can design very 
many more buildings than the architect who must think out 
every detail, and personally invent and design everything 
